1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to instruments for cleaning teeth, and more specifically to tooth cleaning instruments which are adapted to remove food from between the inner surfaces of teeth, especially rear teeth.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Conventional toothpicks are either wooden or plastic and are straight, thin elongated implements which taper almost to a point at one or both ends thereof. Food is removed from between teeth by directly thrusting one end of the toothpick into the tooth crevices, such as near the gums, and working the food outwardly and towards the ends of the teeth. In addition to suffering from the disadvantage of risking injury to the user's gums due to the need to thrust the toothpick end toward the gums during the cleaning operation, the conventional toothpicks are also disadvantaged by virtue of their design, which causes the angle of attack on rear tooth surfaces to decrease as the rearmost teeth are worked by the toothpick's end. The straight shaft and the pointed ends can only generally reach a portion of the rear crevices, and cannot efficiently remove food lodged between these remote surfaces.
Other toothpick and tooth cleaning instruments have been developed, but they all suffer disadvantages. Early tooth cleaning implements include those disclosed in U.S. Patents dating before 1900. U.S. Pat. No. 234,422 (1880) related to an instrument having a tooth cleaning portion formed as a thin metal blade provided with notches. U.S. Pat. No. 516,409 (1884) provided a pointed end formed from a piece of quill which was affixed to a shank portion by a longitudinal split in the adjacent end-portion of the shank. The instrument of U.S. Pat. No. 710,498 (1902) also employed a quill shaft and connected the quill to the point by means of an angled seat adapted to be fitted over the end of the quill shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 817,978 (1906) related to a single piece instrument having a semi-circular pointed hood at one end.
Design U.S. Pat. No. 172,481 (1954) also relates to a tooth cleaning instrument having a semi-circular hook portion at one end. Design U.S. Pat. No. 199,832 (1964) is drawn to the design of a toothpick device having a center shank portion and two angularly projected pick ends. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,293 (1975) relates to a hand held tooth cleaning instrument provided with an elongated shaft and a rounded head portion at one end thereof, projecting outwardly from the shaft, and shaped to provide upper and lower edges and terminating in a tapered tip.